A conspect of chromosome numbers in tribe Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae)

Abstract

A literature survey of chromosome number counts was made for the tribe Delphinieae, which includes the genera Aconitum, Delphinium, Consolida, and Aconitella. 1097 reports are presented corresponding to 327 species, representing about 40 % of the total species number of the tribe. The basic number is universally x = 8 and ploidy levels found are 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, and 8x. Some disploidy cases have been described, although this phenomenon is very rare within the tribe. Poliploidy is more frequent in perennial taxa (Aconitum and Delphinium) whereas in annuals disploidy takes more importance. In 13 species more than one different chromosome number has been reported and 54 species showed different ploidy levels. Our objective was to provide a complete information on chromosome numbers of Delphinieae species and to point out gaps that need to be addressed.